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The first number of the Civilian & Telegraph, owned by William Evans and edited by Evans and John J. Maupin, was issued on March 17, 1859. Evans and Maupin served respectively as president and secretary of the local American (Know-Nothing) Party, and their politics were reflected in the editorials of the Civilian & Telegraph. Following the 1859 election, Evans became the sole editor.

As tensions between Northern and Southern states intensified, the Civilian & Telegraph remained conservative, but firmly Unionist, and backed politicians that favored neither southern secession nor abolitionism. In the 1860 presidential election, the Civilian & Telegraph initially supported Edward Bates for the Republican Party nomination. After Bates lost to Abraham Lincoln at the party convention, the paper endorsed Constitutional Union candidate John Bell. Though Evans admitted in a November 15, 1860, editorial that President-Elect Lincoln was not the first choice of conservative Marylanders, he believed Lincoln to be "among the most patriotic and conservative citizens of the Republic, and therefore deserving the confidence of his countrymen." The Civilian & Telegraph reflected the views of the Unconditional Union Party and supported the Lincoln administration throughout the Civil War.

In January 1864, Jacob Wickard took control of the Civilian & Telegraph and continued its Unionist tradition, supporting the re-election of Lincoln. Over the next year and a half, the paper passed through many hands, including James Hilleary, Orlando F. Mattingly, and Thomas E. Ogden, before Col. William Harrison Lowdermilk purchased it in July 1865. Lowdermilk was a veteran of the Civil War, as well as a historian, author, and postmaster at Cumberland. During his tenure as editor and proprietor, the Civilian was Republican in its politics and remained so for the rest of its run. In 1876 Lowdermilk shortened the title of the paper to the Civilian. Three years later, he sold his interest in the paper to the Civilian Publishing Company and moved to Washington, D.C., where he ran a bookstore and publishing business until his death on December 29, 1897.

Col. Henry J. Johnson, owner and editor of the Cumberland Daily News, was the chief representative of the Civilian Publishing Company. He changed the title of the paper in April 1882 to the Sunday Civilian. Upon Johnson's death in June 1886, Col. William E. Griffith purchased both the Sunday Civilian and the Daily News. The paper changed titles again in August 1890 to the Weekly Civilian and was known as such until publication ceased in July 1905.